Arsenal Women head coach Renee Slegers said her side’s failure to respond to Bayern Munich’s change in second half approach was critical as the home side came from 2-0 down to beat the Gunners at the Allianz Arena.

Emily Fox and Mariona Caldentey put Arsenal in firm control in the first half, before substitutes Alara Sehitler and Pernille Harder pulled goals back. Bayern captain Glodis Viggosdottir hammered the nail into the Gunners’ coffin in the 86th minute.

“Our last two games against Bayern were really challenging games for both sides and we knew it was going to be challenging tonight,” Slegers reflected.

“We came off the game against Chelsea with positive belief and I think we showed that in the first half against Bayern. We do a lot of things really well in the first half in our pressing game and how we force them into mistakes and they don't get out of their own half. 

“We do really well on the ball, I think we maybe could have even scored one more in the first half, so I think we dominated the first half, and that's of course really strong coming away against Bayern. 

“Then the second half is another half. I think we dominated the first half, second half is Bayern. What they start to do especially after their 2-1 goal, I think they start to play in behind and they start to play a long ball, second ball game and they stack numbers high, and we don't deal with it well enough. 

“So we're not happy, it's not good enough, we can't concede three goals so late in a game against Bayern when we have a 2-0 lead.”

Asked by the Gooner Fanzine about how Arsenal can manage emotions to turn things around against rivals Tottenham this weekend, Slegers said “Accept how you feel, I think that's the best strategy, so we have to accept how you feel about it. 

“Then it's going to demand a lot of self-management for players and staff to turn things around but I think having something new to look forward to is actually a good thing. 

“So there is no other option, we have to be in here and now, we can't think about the past and what's happened, we have to be in here and now, we have to start preparing for Tottenham.”